Petty had played off and on again with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers since around 1976. His 40th anniversary tour with the band wrapped a week ago and he was scheduled to play two shows in New York the second week of November. See one of his most recent performances of “Free Fallin’,” his highest-charting solo single, at the Hollywood Bowl here:

TMZ reported Monday that Petty was taken to a hospital in Santa Monica on Sunday night. According to the tabloid, EMTs found him unconscious and not breathing, though with a pulse, in his Malibu home. After early reports of Petty’s condition, CBS News prematurely reported his death on Monday afternoon on social media, citing the L.A.P.D. The department later clarified that it had no investigative role in the matter and that “initial information was inadvertently provided to some media sources.” Petty’s manager later announced his death shortly before midnight. (Many outlets, this one briefly included, picked up the false report.)

The musician was awarded the Billboard Century Award in 2005, and Paul Zollo published an oral history about his life, Conversations with Tom Petty later that year. In 2006, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted him after 30 years of service to what’s now considered classic rock.

A four hour documentary about the enigmatic frontman called Runnin' Down a Dream (named after a track on Full Moon Fever, his first solo album) was released in 2007. Peter Bogdanovich directed and it won a Grammy for Best Music Film.

Petty had promised that this summer’s 40th anniversary tour would be his last, according to a profile in Rolling Stone. He called it the “last big one.”

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